Obesity inversely affects the productivity of the person. If we have the young and middle age population getting affected with obesity, we will be losing out more economically as they are the most productive for the country.Shahid Akhter | ETHealthWorld | November 26, 2015, 09:22 IST

If we see the percentage of obesity in India it is roughly around 3-5 % across the country whereas in developed states like in Delhi or Punjab there may be a higher percentage.

Around 20-25% of the people will be overweight to obese. As we have big numbers of population even 3 to 5% reflects as a big number of obese people.

Obesity inversely affects the productivity of the person. If we have the young and middle age population getting affected with obesity, we will be losing out more economically as they are the most productive for the country.

2. What makes children so prone to obesity?

Children have a higher percentage of obesity. One reason is the Indian mentality that a child should look big and chubby so they are force fed. Also now there is a lot of junk food that is available to appease the children as the working parents are not able to spend more time with the children. There are almost no playgrounds and at home it is not safe to allow your child to play outside. Ultimately they end up sitting at home and what they play is only the video games or on the computer. There is almost nil exercise with long study hours plus lot of junk food which is causing an increase in the childhood obesity.

3. Is bariatric surgery the only option to treat morbid obesity?

Morbid obesity means someone whose body mass index (BMI) is above 30. At this point it becomes very difficult to come down to less that 25 BMI with only diet and exercise. Ideally it should be between 18- 25 which is difficult for majority of the people. Maybe few can achieve it with proper diet and exercise. Even if they achieve it, the maintenance is the most difficult.

4. What are the other advantages of bariatric surgery?

Apart from weight loss, bariatric surgery causes a lot of improvement in the metabolic syndrome. The type 2 diabetes improves by 70-80%, hypertension almost comes down by 70%, and cholesterol levels normalize. People who are suffering from severe respiratory restriction what we call obstructive sleep apnea. They almost improve their sleep apnea, their respiration becomes normal and joint pains also improve.In female, once they improve on weight they improve fertility. There are also other significant improvements in the other comorbid conditions which follow obesity.

5. What are the myths and misconceptions that people have about this surgery?

People feel that bariatric surgery is when you don’t allow food to stay the intestines and you just connect the food pipe into the lower part of the intestine, which is not true. The person can eat what is sufficient for their ideal bodyweight.

In some types of bariatric procedures we have bypasses. We bypass only 1.5 to 2 meters from the 6 meters of small intestine. A human can live with 1 meter of small intestine. This way the digestion and absorption will happen with a little calorie absorption. We need them to take vitamin and mineral supplements which is not negative. Though there is also a fear of death if you are operating a very obese or elderly patient.

Bariatric surgery is projected that it is equal to death and because of this fear a lot of people are still avoiding this procedure. They eventually succumb to their weight because of these myths.

6. How does obesity affect fertility?

Obesity goes hand in hand with fertility because there is a lot of negative hormonal imbalance that takes places once the person is obese. The fat itself acts as endocrine hormone excreting a lot of hormones which cause insulin resistance and suppress ovulation. When the people start losing weight 50-60% of them spontaneously recover their fertility and start conceiving. We can see young ladies safely go through their pregnancies and have almost normal babies. They just have to wait for at least 1.5 to 2 years before they plan to start a family.

7. What are the ideal requirements for an ideal center for bariatric surgery?

Ideal bariatric centre first should have equipment to handle a very heavy person. Mainly the anesthesia team should be capable of anesthetizing a very heavy person because if they are not capable, they will not be able to get the airway tube in proper place and that can lead to problems. The surgeries should be done very quickly rather than taking long hours and exposing the patient to long hours of anesthesia. In the post-operative periods they should have a good nutrition team, a good physiotherapist and a good nursing team to take care of everything.

8. What are the advancements that have taken place in bariatric surgery?

Bariatric surgery has improved over the years with the number of procedures which are now available. The instruments to offer safety to the patients have improved. Now we also have good anesthesia techniques and anesthetic drugs. The patient immediately recovers once the surgery is done and patient awareness has also improved. Gradually more and more number of people are coming forward to get this surgery done. The number is still small, maybe less than 1% of this huge population.

Subscribe to our Newsletters

Earlier people used to visit a pharmacy or a medical store only when they used to be sick but today there is an evolving trend. Now people have suddenly realized that there is a huge potential in being healthy.